Tatashe (Long Red Sweet Pepper) substitute

Best substitute

Red Bell Pepper

Use the same amount by weight, plus 1 small red chilli or ¼ teaspoon cayenne per 2 peppers as the tatashe (long red sweet pepper) you are replacing

Best for Nigerian stew base (obe ata)

Close match

Red bell pepper is the standard swap at 1:1 by weight; add one small red chilli or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne per two bell peppers to restore the whisper of heat tatashe has. Long red romano or Corno di Toro peppers are actually closer, with thicker walls and a sweeter, more concentrated flavour. Whatever you use, blend with as little water as possible, because bell peppers hold far more water than tatashe.

Other tatashe (long red sweet pepper) substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Romano, Corno di Toro or Red Long Sweet Peppers
Close match
Use the same amount by weight
Closer to tatashe than bell pepper in nearly every way: same long tapered shape, similar wall thickness, sweeter and more concentrated flavour, and they blend to a smoother puree.
What changes
If your shop has them, this is the better choice.
Best for
Nigerian stew base, jollof rice, roasted pepper sauces, pepper soup
Slightly more intense and less watery than bell pepper, so the base cooks down faster and tastes richer. Still essentially heat-free, so keep the small chilli.
3Red Anaheim or Fresh Red New Mexico Chillies
Different taste
Use the same amount by weight
Thick-fleshed like tatashe and with a genuine mild heat of their own, so you can skip the added chilli entirely.
What changes
Available at most supermarkets in the American Southwest and at Latin grocers everywhere.
Best for
Nigerian stew base, jollof rice, pepper sauce, grilled fish sauces
Grassier and less sweet than tatashe, with a green vegetal note even when fully red. The stew comes out slightly less sugary and a little more savoury, which many people prefer.
4Jarred Roasted Red Peppers or Piquillos, Drained
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by drained weight
Fast and reliable, and they are already cooked, so the base needs much less frying-down than a raw blend.
What changes
Good when good fresh peppers are expensive or out of season.
Best for
quick weeknight stew, jollof rice, pepper sauces, small batches
They carry a roasted, faintly smoky flavour and jarred peppers are often packed with vinegar or citric acid, so rinse them and leave out any vinegar or lemon the recipe adds. Sweeter and softer than fresh tatashe.
5Fresno or Red Cherry Peppers
Taste and texture differ
Use the same amount by weight, and cut back the scotch bonnet
A good option if you want the sweetness of a fleshy red pepper and are happy with more heat built into the base.
What changes
Fresnos in particular blend to a beautiful bright red.
Best for
stew base, pepper sauce, shito, grilled meat sauces
Noticeably spicier than tatashe, so reduce or drop the rodo or scotch bonnet in the recipe or the stew will be punishing. They are also thinner-walled, so the base is a little less substantial.
6Plum Tomatoes, Replacing Part of the Pepper
Taste and texture differ
Replace up to one third of the tatashe by weight with plum tomatoes
The honest short-of-peppers option.
What changes
Tomatoes keep the base red and add body, and every Nigerian stew already contains some, so the flavour direction is not wrong.
Best for
stretching a stew base, jollof rice, when peppers are expensive
Sweeter and considerably more acidic, so the stew tastes more like a tomato sauce and less like a pepper stew. Do not replace all the tatashe: without pepper flesh the base is thin, sharp and never develops the deep body Nigerian stew depends on.

What is Tatashe (Long Red Sweet Pepper)?

Tatashe (Long Red Sweet Pepper) is Tatashe, also spelled tatase, is a long, thick-fleshed red pepper that forms the sweet, fleshy backbone of Nigerian stew bases, supplying bulk, sweetness and deep red colour with only the faintest warmth of its own.

Cooking tips

Whatever pepper you use, the blended mix has to be fried down until it darkens and the oil separates and floats. This single step is what makes a Nigerian stew taste right, and it takes 20 to 40 minutes over medium heat, not five.
Deseed the peppers and cut out the white ribs. Seeds make the blend bitter and cloud the colour, and the difference between a clean bright red base and a muddy brown one usually comes down to this.
Bell peppers hold much more water than tatashe. Blend with as little water as the machine will tolerate, or pour the blended mix into a sieve and let it drain for ten minutes, or you will be reducing it for an hour.
Keep the three Nigerian stew peppers straight in your head and substitute each for its own job: tatashe gives bulk and sweetness, rodo or scotch bonnet gives heat and fruity aroma, shombo gives colour and moderate heat. Replacing tatashe with a hot pepper throws the whole balance off.
Blended pepper base freezes extremely well. When good red peppers are cheap, make double or triple and freeze it flat in bags, and a weeknight stew becomes a twenty minute job.

Frequently asked questions

Is tatashe just a red bell pepper?

Nearly, and swapping them works fine, but not quite. Tatashe is longer and tapered with thick walls, it is slightly less sweet and less watery than a bell pepper, and it carries a very faint warmth that a bell pepper does not have at all. In practice red bell pepper plus a small red chilli is close enough that no one at the table will complain.

Is tatashe spicy?

Barely. Tatashe is a sweet pepper with only a trace of heat, and beginners often mistake it for a hot pepper because it appears in recipes next to scotch bonnet. The heat in Nigerian stew comes from rodo, which is scotch bonnet, and from shombo, a cayenne-type pepper. Tatashe is there for the sweet red flesh that makes up the body of the sauce.

Can I use green bell pepper instead?

Avoid it. Green bell peppers are unripe, so they taste grassy and slightly bitter rather than sweet, and they turn the stew a dull olive-brown instead of red. Colour matters in these dishes. If green peppers are genuinely all you have, use only a small proportion of them alongside tomatoes and expect a different, more vegetal sauce.

Can I just leave tatashe out?

Not without replacing it with something fleshy, because tatashe is the bulk of the base rather than a seasoning. A stew made from tomatoes and scotch bonnet alone is thin, sharp and fiery with nothing to round it out. Any sweet red pepper will do the job, and at a pinch more tomato plus a spoonful of tomato paste will hold the sauce together.

What is the difference between tatashe, shombo and rodo?

They are the three peppers of the Nigerian stew base and they are not interchangeable. Tatashe (tatase) is the long sweet red pepper that provides bulk, sweetness and colour. Shombo is a longer, thinner cayenne-type pepper providing moderate heat and a deep red. Rodo is scotch bonnet, which provides serious heat and a distinctive fruity, floral aroma. Substitute each one for its own role.

Related substitutes

More peppers substitutes

Tatashe (Long Red Sweet Pepper) substitute

Other tatashe (long red sweet pepper) substitutes

2Romano, Corno di Toro or Red Long Sweet Peppers

3Red Anaheim or Fresh Red New Mexico Chillies

4Jarred Roasted Red Peppers or Piquillos, Drained

5Fresno or Red Cherry Peppers

6Plum Tomatoes, Replacing Part of the Pepper